ROCKFORD — Increasing police patrols in the area north of SwedishAmerican Hospital appears to have been effective last month in cutting down on crime there.

Police responded to reported muggings by assailants on bicycles near Summit Street in early October. But after patrol levels increased, the number of robberies decreased nearly 24 percent month over month in the central city, said Lt. Darin Spades during the Rockford Police Department’s monthly Compstat forum on Wednesday.

“Our numbers have drastically decreased and we haven’t had any since,” said Spades, adding that police are meeting with the hospital in an attempt to work together to defeat nearby crime. “We believe SwedishAmerican can help us in our overall crime reduction efforts in that area of the city.”

Robberies throughout the city are down 22 percent so far this year, with 339 reported so far this year as compared to 434 during the same time period in 2012.

Numbers of shots fired incidents that had crept above 2012 levels last Compstat, have dipped 1.5 percent below 2012 levels — to 400. There were decreases in shots fired incidents in October in each of the city’s three districts.

Shots fired incidents in the central area of the city remain 12.5 percent higher than in 2012, with 135 incidents year-to-date. But they were down nearly 60 percent month-over-month, from 22 shots fired incidents in September to just 9 in October.

Despite the good news, police said there have been several suspected gang related incidents of shots fired from moving vehicles in the southwest area of the city. Police have implemented a surge of saturated patrols in these areas, conducting aggressive traffic stops, stop and talks with pedestrians and heavier patrols at strategic times of the day.

A portion of Compstat, which is typically open to the public, was closed to discuss specifics on drug locations and gangs.

“We’re down 1 percent in violent crimes and down 17 percent in property crimes, even though our homicides are up,” Lt. Patrick Hoey said. “That’s why we’re doing saturation patrols on the southwest side, to get the guns and get these people arrested. That’s what the Violent Crimes Task Force is focusing on too, getting these gang members arrested who are involved in these shootings.”